


The Sky Was Blue

by minispice



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief, Light suicidal thoughts, Other, Post-Pokemon Sword & Shield, References to Depression, Trauma, dealing with negative emotions, leon pondering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minispice/pseuds/minispice
Summary: Leon faces the advancing storm of the consequences of his actions as he reflects on his place in the world. A storm may bring a dark horizon, but after all the rain there’s always another day.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	The Sky Was Blue

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know where this fic came from. Being in a pandemic STILL brings the weird thoughts. More introspection and suffering for Leon because I love him so.

The sky was blue.

More accurately the sky was blue with a underlying hue of grey, with a slow crawl of darkening clouds hugging the ends of the horizon. The faint scent of damp grass wafted through the window of Leon's room, meaning more than likely it was going to rain soon. Nothing new to the natives of Galar. The weather was known for alternating between 'fine' and 'incredibly shoddy' within seconds. Pharmacies and raincoat companies made a fortune. 

How joyous for them. 

The trees waved slightly in the growing breeze passing through Postwick, their leaves rustling like clockwork causing numerous bird Pokémon to take their leave of them, flying off into the distance away from the upcoming storm. To them, the bad weather disrupted their peaceful day, ruining either their naps and peaceful perches. Many would also feel incredibly inconvenienced by the sudden bad weather. Not everyone however. 

Leon looked on from his window as he watched people rush inside their homes with their arms and newspapers over their heads. Obviously doing little to shield them from the torrent of rain now pouring over their little town.

In a flash of lightning, Leon was gone. 

His mother had fallen asleep at the kitchen table while preparing lunch, Leon's favorite curry to be exact. It was a ton of prep work and she had only sat down for just a little bit. Before she knew it the rhythmic song of the rain had lured her to sleep, leaving the back door unattended. 

As quickly as he was quietly, Leon slipped past her and out the door, stopping at their gate before the street. He craned his neck toward the sky and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as the falling water caressed his dark skin and violet hair, dampening it at a swift pace. 

The rain felt so heavy yet he couldn't have been more pleased.

Everyday it was automatic; his motions. His breathing, his smile. It was all orchestrated, puppeteered by someone else. He was free of his biggest burden, yet he never felt more suffocated. He had held his title for so long; despite his growing restlessness with the role, once he was without it the shift caused such a state of upset within him that he nearly did something drastic in front of thousands of watchful eyes, something he would never be able to take back. 

Leon heard all of this second hand of course. For the life of him he could not remember his actions that took place after his loss. Whatever happened, it took his Charizard and Raihan's combined effort to restrain him. Whenever the room was as silent as his thoughts, he could still feel the pressure of their grip upon his forearms, throbbing to the sound of his heartbeat. 

It was deafening. 

Mistake. He made a mistake, it was just a mistake; he kept hearing. From Hop, his mother, Sonia, the news. 

Everyone around him just kept speaking for him, as if his words meant nothing anymore. With dull gold eyes Leon watched the world around him go by, continuing on without him like the last ten years never existed. 

Truthfully Leon didn't know what he wanted any more. His entire life had been laid out before him, hand picked and wrapped like a present. Now no one wanted anything to with him, to _really_ do with him; except to coddle him and watch him like a Braviary would its prey. No matter where he was in life, eyes never left him. They were always there, burning a hole into the back of his neck.

Don't let him out of your sight, the doctors said. Keep a close eye on him, the therapist said. He can't be alone, just stay with him, he'll get better, he'll be fine.

Fine is such a funny word. 

The first few weeks after the incident, Leon behaved like he normally would at home- more accurately how others would expect him to before everything happened, not necessarily after... He helped cook and ate his mom's food, he had lunch dates with Sonia, video chatted with Raihan, exchanged texts with Hop. Everyone was so incredibly cautious around him but he never stopped smiling. 

Never ceased being on autopilot. 

The next couple months people stopped being able to make time for him. He was to still remain at home while others left him behind, at least according to his mind. Sonia with her new duties as Professor, Hop as her new assistant. Together they went gallivanting around the region to research oddities and what not. Raihan stayed busy with his Gym and social life, and the kid...they... 

Well...

With everyone else occupied, his mother was the only one who was left to stay with him, look after him. Like he was a child.

Leon loved his mother dearly, and he knew she did the best she could. But everyday it became increasingly noticeable that it was harder and harder to get out of bed and stick to his daily routine he had kept to since he was a kid. The very same routine that been second nature to him as long as he could remember. The healthy diet stopped, the exercising stopped, the socializing stopped. 

His hair grew unkempt, his energy at a all time low. If it weren't for his mother he wasn't even sure he would remember to drink water. Frighteningly enough, the only thing he never stopped doing once... was smile. 

Every time his mom brought him food he would smile at her. If Professor Magnolia ever stopped by for a visit he would greet her with a wave and a smile. Even when he managed to spend the day outside with Charizard he never stopped smiling at his companion.

Until one day he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

The rain still hadn't let up. 

Leon opened his weary eyes and took another deep breath, peering into the void of the leaking sky. He was ill-prepared, dressed in nothing but his pajama shirt and pants, not even bothering with slippers. He gazed slowly at the empty town around him. Everyone but him was sheltered from the rain. For the first time in a very long time, there were no eyes laid upon him.

The shackles were gone.

Golden eyes looked toward the Slumbering Weald with the faintest crackle of determined embers dancing around his pupils. The spark of an idea so dangerous if left unchecked formed in his mind, something he hadn’t experienced in a hot minute for lack of a better word. The forest's howl echoed around Leon, chilling the air around him, sending shivers up and down his spine and through his nervous system. Its ever mysterious and alluring fog beckoned him forward like a siren's call, its wisp-like tendrils seemed to form a hand of its own, reaching out to take hold of his hand, leading him, guiding him, showing him the way. Taking him deep into the Weald’s belly.

Entranced, Leon followed. Leaving the last threshold of safety that his home provided behind, away from the coddling, the eyes, the ever looming shadow of everything wrong with him and into the unknown. Out of nowhere his heart began to race, with what he wasn't sure.

Fear?

Excitement?

_Acceptance?_

With every step it dawned on him. He had nothing on him, no phone, no ID, no Poké Balls. No one would have any method of finding him. This wouldn't be like all those other times where he got lost around town or in the Wild Area. 

If he continued on like this into the arms of the Slumbering Weald...there would be an very high chance he would be lost...for good this time.

It'd almost like he'd be as good as **dead.**

  


\- 

  


Leon gasped.

He awoke on his back on uneven stone, the smell of moss overpowering his nostrils. He lifted up his hand while squinting his eyes, averting his gaze from the beams of light that pierced their way through the thicket of leaves above him. 

Completely unaware of the time and date, Leon groaned groggily, straining to pull himself up, wobbling as he got his bearings. The stone had left him absurdly sore, making him very aware of the terrible state his body was in. After blinking his eyes clear he realized where he ended up, and quite honestly he couldn't help but laugh to himself at the probability. 

“The monument of the two heroes..” He whispered to no one, a ghost of a smile desperately trying to form to no avail. Everything about him as just so tired.

He stared quietly, running his fingers gently over the headstone that was watching over him. Strange. It was almost as if the kid and his brother were protecting him from afar, since the Sword and Shield themselves chose them. He did nothing to deserve this, but whatever fate they ended up preventing him from, he couldn't help but feel a flicker of guilt, but more so than that....relief.

_Relief._

Another choked gasp escaped Leon’s lips as he fell to his knees, his hand clenching his face scrunching his skin as he covered his mouth. Unable to stop the flow of tears bursting from his eyes. His chest heaved, shuddering from sobs while inhaling to let out a harrowing yell of mixed emotions. Everything that was contstrained within his heart exploded, filling the air with a howl so deep it put the Weald to shame. 

He felt so pathetic, so despicable, unworthy of everything that was bestowed upon him. He hated himself, dearly so. Leon felt so unfit for taking up this spot in the universe, and yet, he never felt more gratfeul for being alive. 

He was alive. 

Perhaps it was selfish, this, everything he had done, put others through. But it was a feeling. A feeling. _His_ feeling. After months of numbness and nothing. Leon finally felt _something._

Suddenly, voices. Leon turned his head toward the forest, eyes red and throat hoarse. He could hear multiple voices shouting coming from deep withing the Slumbering Weald, overlapping and desperate. 

It wasn't before long that the owners of the voices came stumbling into view, and before Leon could even react they all rushed into him and tackled him to the ground with the biggest collective hug he's ever seen.

Hop and Sonia were blubbering with tears, with Raihan scolding him to hell and back but did little to hide his own glistening eyes. From the back Leon could see the kid smiling along side his Legendary, but his vision soon blurred due to his eyes welling up again, burying his face in the embrace of his family.

Leon wasn't really aware of how much time had passed, but remained blissfully ignorant as his companions carried him back toward Postwick, a gesture he fully welcomed. Hop and Sonia per usual talked his ear off as Raihan stayed silent but perfectly content to carry Leon as they walked through the fog. 

It seemed much lighter than before, or perhaps it was just his imagination. Leon wasn't really sure.

As they reached the entrance of the Weald, Leon took a deep intake of breath, free of the foliage and the dusty stone. Feeling tired, he laid his head down on curve of Raihan's neck, gazing upward one last time before falling asleep.

  


The sky was blue. It was a new day.


End file.
